Don't Call Me Temperance
by AlabamaBound
Summary: Set in the future. Told through Booth and Brennan's friends and children. I own nothing except B/B's kids. Rated M for future chapters...
1. Chapter 1

_**~~AN~~ My muse seems to have run dry on my other stories. Although, she decided to give me this one. So, I'm hoping once I post this and start appeasing the muse, she will be nice and help me with the other stories. **_

_**As always, reviews are much appreciated and loved....**_

March 14th 2027.

As the scene opens, we see men in tuxedos and women in formal party dresses. Waiters are walking around with trays of champagne and food. Everything was perfect, everything except the fact that the guests of honor was running late.

Sixteen year old Megan Booth looked at her older brother, Parker. She managed to pull him aside and whisper, "Where are they? He promised me that they'd be here in plenty of time!"

Parker smiled at his little sister, "Calm down Meg, they probably got caught in traffic."

"They are over an hour late! That's not stuck in traffic big brother. They aren't coming and then I'll be the one that has to explain it to everyone here."

Parker knew that his sister was worried. She'd spent the better part of a year getting this ceremony arranged. He'd been glad to help her out. It was fun to watch her. She was just like their mom. Finally, he suggested, "Let's just start the ceremony. I know that they'll be here soon. It will take your mind off them being late."

He watched as she chewed on her bottom lip. He had to resist the urge to smile. She looked even more like their mom. Finally, she nodded, "Let's get the others. They need to get in place for the celebration."

Parker nodded and went off to gather the rest. Soon, they were all seated at the front table. All the usual suspects were there, Cam, Angela, Hodgins and Wendell, as well other important people in their parent's lives.

Then, there was Megan. She was sixteen and nearly the spitting image of her mother. She had her father's personality, much to her mother's chagrin. Next, was eleven year old Morgan Booth, she was the spitting image of her father. Although, she did have her mother's eyes, she also had her mother's temper and high intelligence. It drove their father crazy and was a constant source of amazement in the Booth household. Then, there were the twins Michael and Maxwell. They were seven year old balls of energy. The only people that could tell them apart were their family and a few close friends. Last, but definitely not least, was one year old Melinda Booth. She was her parents surprise baby. When they'd found out about her, they wondered if it was a bad dream. She'd been a blessing from the moment she'd arrived though. Their little sister never failed to bring a smile to anyone's face.

Megan and Parker stood at the podium that was set up. She clears her throat and begins to speak, "Could everyone please take their seats? We'd like to begin the ceremony."

As they were getting ready to start, the lights were turned down and Booth and Bones walked into the room. Booth looked at their children up on stage and whispered, "We're dead meat."

"That's highly impossible Booth. We're clearly standing here and…"

"That's not what I meant. I meant that we are in trouble, with them."

"Oh. We should go up there and tell them that we're here."

Booth shook his head and whispered, "I want to see what they say."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. I think…"

Booth smiled, "Let's just give it a few minutes. Please?"

Bones smiled at her husband. Despite all the years that had passed, she was still unable to say no to him when he smiled at her, "Fine. We'll wait."

Parker smiled at his sister and continued, "We're here tonight to honor two special people. Without them, I wouldn't have my brothers and sisters. They are two people that you know very well."

Megan smiled, "Our mother is a bestselling author and a world renowned forensic anthropologist."

Parker continued, "Our father is the current Director of the FBI. Before that however, he was simply Special Agent Seeley Booth."

Megan took over at this point, "Although we know them simply as mom and dad. They've loved each other for longer than they've been married, but it took almost losing each other for them to admit their true feelings to one another."

Parker smiled at the assembled crowd, "However, we aren't the ones that can best tell their story. No, that's left up to the other people gathered on this stage. They were there with them, through it all. The good times and the bad."

Megan smiled at the crowd, "Angela, would you please come up here. You are one of the most important people in our lives. Without you mom and dad might never have gotten together."

Angela walked over to the podium and hugs Megan tight. They smile and Angela starts talking. It's at this point that we leave this scene and a flashback starts as Angela remembers back.

It all started with an argument. That's how most of great love stories start and end. However, like every great love story, there comes a point when one person has had enough. Enough of the fighting, enough of the pain and it's all they can do to keep from giving up.


	2. Chapter 2

_**~~A/N~~ Sorry for the delay in updating. I hope you like this update. Remember that reviews are love.**_

It all started with an argument. That's how most of great love stories start and end. However, like every great love story, there comes a point when one person has had enough. Enough of the fighting, enough of the pain and it's all they can do to keep from giving up.

The argument was one hundred times worse than any that had come before. Usually, they would find some common ground and they'd agree to disagree. However, this time there was no common ground to be found. Booth looked at Bones and told her, "I'm done."

"Done? What do you mean done? We are talking and…"

"I'm done talking to you Bones. There's no talking to you."

"You can talk to me. We're talking now."

"We aren't talking Bones. We're arguing. And I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

"Now you're being irrational Booth."

"I'm not being irrational Bones. I'm being truthful. You're never going to accept me for the way that I am. You're always going to try and change me. I'm never going to be good enough for you. I'll never be smart enough. I'm always going to be a big old dumb jock."

"Stop talking like that Booth. You know that's not true."

"Isn't it? You're always looking for someone else. Someone that's not me."

Brennan hated hearing him talk like that about himself. She'd realized long ago that he was smarter than he let on. She supposed that it was something to do with the male tendency to appear strong rather than smart. She looked at him and whispered, "Please stop that Booth. You know that's not true. You're smarter than you let on."

"No, I'm not Temperance."

Bones looked at him for what seemed like forever. Finally, she managed to whisper, "Don't call me Temperance. I'm Bones. Only Bones to you."

"No, you're not Bones. You're Temperance "too rational" Brennan. And I'm done."

With that he turned around and walked away. Leaving Bones standing there in shock and wondering what happened. Thank goodness no one else was in the lab right then, because she lost it. She broke into tears and couldn't make them stop. No matter how hard she tried.

She thought back to when they first started working together. She'd hated it when he'd called her Bones. Now however, she'd come to accept it. Like it even. When he called her Temperance a few moments ago, she'd heard a quiet hostility in his voice. The likes of which she'd never heard from him before. It had stunned and shocked her. The only thing she could think to say was, "Don't call me Temperance."

The way he'd looked at her was nearly enough to hurt her. Never before had he looked at her with contempt. She sighed and started walking out of the lab. She bit her bottom lip and climbed into her car. She sighed and looked at her cell phone. She knew that it was probably pointless to call him, but she decided to give it a shot.

She picked up her phone and hit the speed dial. She listened to the ringing phone and sighed when his voicemail picked up. She started to hang up, but decided to leave a message instead.

"Hello Booth. I'm sorry. We need to talk. I know that you're mad at me. Please call me."

She sighed and drove the rest of the way home in silence.

Booth got home and threw his keys on the end table and walked into his apartment. He listened to his phone ringing and looked at the caller id. He saw that it was Bones and decided that he couldn't talk to her. Not yet.

He decided that he would listen to it later. Right now, he needed to calm down. He'd worked with Bones for over five and a half years. Never before had they fought like they had tonight. Tonight, there was no talking to each other. Merely yelling and screaming. Honestly, he was just as much to blame as Bones was. However, it was the last thing that she'd said to him that had pushed him over the edge. She'd turned to him and screamed, "You're an ass Booth. I bet that's why Rebecca wouldn't marry you."

That's when he'd told her that he was done. Done arguing and done fighting. She'd never look at him as anything other than a partner. He'd been in love with her for the longest time. However, he knew that he'd never be anything else to her, but a partner at work. It was time that he moved on. Time that he left Bones behind him and get on with his life.

So, he ignored her calls and hide in his apartment. He'd managed to hide from her for three days. Three long and very miserable days. He would never admit to anyone just how much he missed her. Missed working with her. Missed talking to her. He just generally missed her. He knew that she would never forgive him for walking away from her, for leaving her. He'd always told her that he would never leave her. He wasn't sure that this counted as leaving, but he knew that as rational as she was, she wouldn't see the difference. He fell asleep on his couch.

He woke to the sound of frantic knocking. He looked around the room and tried to figure out what had awoken him. It was then that he heard it again. There was someone knocking on the door. He stood up and walked over to the door. He looked through the peephole and saw that it was Bones standing on the other side. He swallowed hard and opened the door.

Brennan walked inside and looked at Booth. He couldn't read the look on her face. That wasn't something that he was used to. So, he looked at her and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too Booth. Can I come in?"

Booth nodded and stood to the side to allow her in. She walked inside and put her arms across her chest. If Booth didn't know better he'd say that she was upset. That was laughable because Temperance Brennan did not get upset. At least not because of him. He looked at her hard, "What do you want?"

She sighed, "I want to talk."

"Why? So you can insult me some more."

She shook her head slowly, "No Booth. I want to apologize, to tell you that I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"I shouldn't have said what I said. Regardless of how upset I was."

Now she was apologizing to him. Was the world as he knew it getting ready to come to an end? He looked at her and whispered, "Are you okay Bones?"

She blinked in surprise and swallowed hard. She looked away from him. He looked at her back and followed after her. He turned her around and it was then that he saw the tears in her eyes. He whispered, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "Nothing's wrong."

"Why are you upset?"

"You called me Bones."

"Yeah, I always call you Bones. Why is that making you cry?"

Brennan shook her head slowly, "Because you called me Temperance "too rational" Brennan. I didn't think that I'd ever hear you call me Bones again."

He knew then that he'd hurt her. Probably more than anyone since her parents left her. He could have kicked himself. He'd always promised her that he would never hurt her and that was the very thing that he'd done. He just wondered if he could undo the damage that he'd caused. He hoped that she would forgive him. Otherwise, he didn't know what he would do. If she hated him, then nothing would ever be right again…..


End file.
